Before leaving for a great adventure, we decided to spend a few weeks in Romania to test our van and to check if we have everything setup depending on our necessities. Since we spent the entire summer working on our campervan, we agreed that the best way to spend these weeks is on a wild beach at the Black Sea called Vadu, away from the busy beaches of the Romanian coast and closer to the nature.
Map to Vadu
Vadu beach is 20 minutes away by car from the small village with the same name and it's positioned within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Is one of the last remaining wild beaches in Romania and less visited comparing with the rest of the places over the coast. In order to avoid a negative impact on habitats identified in these areas, the authorities adopted measures by limiting the access to the beaches. Keep in mind that you must respect this natural sanctuary and keep it clean! We returned with two full garbage bags with plastic collected from the beach.
Vadu's biosphere
We left Bucharest a bit nervous but excited about our first trip, with Toto and Neko in the back even more stressed than us. Since it was their first ride, we didn't let them in front with us, first because we wanted all our attention to be concentrated on the road, especially Luis, and second we wanted to make sure that they don't go crazy and jump all over the place, especially on Luis' face while driving :). Well... in the back the things also didn't went very well, poor cats were so scared with all the noise and the movement that I had to call and pet them every 5 minutes. Toto arrived to a point that got tired of moving around and decided to try to sleep hidden under the pillows, but Neko was still meowing and calling me. However, after a couple of hours they resigned and got used a bit with their new way of travelling. We even let them come in front with us and they behaved very well. Neko enjoyed so much that a small part of the way stayed on the window in front, looking with curiosity at the surroundings.
Neko posing for the photo
Toto got confident
Before leaving we made the supplies of food and water enough for a few weeks and we used a hypermarket parking place for a night to sleep without anyone knowing that we were there. That's the cool part with our van because from the outside everyone thinks it is a merchandise van and not a motorhome... maybe only the caravan awning exposes our disguise.
On the road I had to check if everything stayed in place, so when we arrive at the destination we could make the necessary improvements, like locking better the kitchen cabinet' doors and the wardrobe, hanging better the shoes and clothes from the entrance or reassuring that the gas cylinder and the water tank don't move or spill while driving. On the way we stopped to charge the gas tank and it was maybe the first time that we took consciousness at how big we really are and how important it is to manoeuvre the car carefully, since the parking space was quite limited.
Finally, after more than 4 hours we crossed Vadu village and hit the awful road that connects the village with the beach. The distance doesn't seems too long, but you have to drive carefully for 10-15 minutes on the asphalt side because only one car can pass it and then, the fun starts when you arrive at the sandy road! You drive for 5-6 minutes until you reach the nearest opening to the beach on a roller-coaster alike road and if you want to be more adventurous you can go further. Of course, it seems more difficult for us due to the size of the car, for smaller vehicles or for an SUV the travel goes smoother.
Sandy roads at the beach
We arrived on a windy, but warm day of September surrounded by very few cars and people (however I expected even less). The next day I understood that were weekend campers, since we arrived on a Sunday afternoon and on Monday you could see that remained just a few, spread on 5 km of beach. We parked in the dry grass and wild reeds, very close to the beach, but not on the sand being afraid that the van will get stuck in it and we positioned it near some bushes in order to keep it safe from wind and gives us shadow, but paying attention that the solar panels will absorb the light the entire day.
Our location with a great view
You can find different type of people in Vadu, from transitory curious couples to families that camp here each year, kitesurfers, nudists, very few foreigners and also an 65 years old man that lives in a mini box on wheels built by him with all the utilities in it (a much smaller version of our home) and brought by bicycle from the village where he left his car 6 months ago. When we asked him since and until when will be living on the beach, he smiled and said to look at his skin (was almost black) and resigned he stated that will stay until the weather lets him, thinking that this time is getting closer and soon will return to his ordinary life in the city between four walls. I didn't took any picture of him because you better come meet him and his little tiny house in person.
Honestly we didn't done much here, just relax and enjoy our day by day life. Which felt really good! We made an unplanned routine. I woke up every morning around 7 o'clock for my daily exercises and running on the beach that ended with a well deserved bath in the sea and Luis woke up a bit later, played a bit on his computer game and then joined me for the swim. After, we took a long and delicious breakfast and then got lazy on the beach for a sunbathe, reading and very likely a nap.
Luis' barbershop outdoor
Neko and Toto are not to be forgotten. They enjoyed the life as much as we did. At first they were reserved about getting out, but after a couple of days they earned more confidence and started to explore the places. Since they are still little and we'll be moving places many times, we bought them a harness for cats and made a 5 m strap so when we don't walk with them, they can still stay outside. Neko, as she is the female, is more docile and obedient and doesn't try to escape from her leash, on the other side, Toto gave us some good running in the reeds.
Exploring the beach
Hiding in the reeds
One evening we went to the nearest (we walked almost 1 hour) fish restaurant on the beach that in Romanian is called cherhana and we enjoyed the fantastic icre salad (fish eggs salad), good fresh fishes accompanied by mamaliga (traditionally polenta in Romanian) and a glass of white wine. It is a very pleasant and charming restaurant with fish nets everywhere and 'fishy' atmosphere. You may not find this restaurant open everyday, especially in the low season, but worth giving a try and check for it.
Cherhanaua Vadu Pescarilor
All-in-all we had a pleasant first experience in our new home. When the water for washing/cleaning was over, we took water from the sea, when we were out of sand for the compost toilet, we took it directly from the beach and regarding the electricity, we didn't cared at all because our 4 solar panels/batteries did their job perfectly. Also, regarding internet we used the phone's mobile data/hotspot and when it was out of network, we used our Tep.
After this, our conclusion is that if we have enough drinkable water and cat food we can live quite well far from any city for 2 or 3 weeks.
We had to stole some water once in awhile
After more than two weeks we had to return to Bucharest in order to finalize the cars' registration, so we said goodbye to Vadu, but not without having one last adventure. We decided to leave before lunch time in order to avoid the traffic jam from entering the city and to find a good parking place, but as an Romanian proverb says, the counting from home does not fit with the one from village...
We planned our way back home, we prepared the van and the cats for the road, everything was prepared but we forgot a small detail...although we parked on the layer of dry grass, the car is really heavy so...we got stuck in the sand.
Fortunately near us we had a kind family that helped us to pull the van with their car, but with no success. Then Luis started to dig holes around the van, digging up the wheels and the metal chassis and forming almost a crater in the middle of the beach. We tried again to pull and push the van, but was too heavy and big, so the only solution was to call a towing company.
Since we are in the middle of nowhere it would take too long and too expensive to come, so they recommended us to go in the village to search for a Jeep to tow us. Our neighbours borrowed their car to get the help we needed in Vadu. We found it right at the entrance of the village...apparently we are not the only ones that got stuck and the villagers are prepared for these situations. With the help of two guys and their SUV, we succeed to get out from the crater...it seemed so easy and looked like the van weighted nothing. After giving them some money for their work, we toasted a glass of Porto wine with the family that helped us and after 5 hours than we planned, we finally hit the road with no other incidents on the way. With ups and downs our experimental weeks passed with brio.
On the top of the mountain sand
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